Life After Windbird, Day 27: Unexpected Trip to the Hospital
Date: Thursday, September 8, 2016
Weather: Rainy Morning, Partly Cloudy Afternoon; High 78 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA
I just got yesterday’s log posted, only 24 hours late. Even though yesterday was an easy day, my sister and I talked into the night. By the time I sat down to write my log, I kept falling asleep. I thought I’d have time this morning to get the log sent, but today didn’t go quite as expected. Mark had a 9:45 am infusion and he woke up feeling just awful. He couldn’t walk without assistance, so all energy went into getting him to the oncology center. The doctor and nurses there were as concerned as I was about Mark’s condition. His weight was up by about ten pounds and it is obvious my just looking at him that he hasn’t gained that much in one week. Fluid accumulation was the obvious answer. Upon examination, Dr. Aviles felt that Mark had a lot of fluid in the abdominal cavity and definitely some around the lungs, but since all vital signs and blood work were normal, he recommended going ahead with the infusion and then heading straight to the hospital to have the fluid removed. So we did just that. When we arrived at the hospital Mark had to have more blood work done and then a nurse came to get us to take us to a room where the fluid would be removed. An ultra-sound machine was rolled in and a technician examined the abdominal cavity and found where she thought the best place would be to remove fluid. But when the doctor came in to repeat that examination, he said he could find only two little pockets of liquid—not enough to make the procedure worth it. He then examined the area around the lungs and did find fluid there. But we needed a different specialist, a pulmonary doctor, to remove that fluid. A pulmonary specialist was called and about 1.3 liters of fluid were removed. This procedure is called a thoracentesis. Mark had one done the end of July at Mass General when a little less than a liter of fluid was removed. The hope in doing this is that it will relieve some of the pain caused by the weight of the fluid. He felt somewhat better immediately, but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow. The nurse in the procedure room was Danielle and as we talked she said to Mark that he looked so familiar. When we found out she, her husband, and two children had lived aboard a catamaran for a couple of years, Danielle realized she knew Mark from West Marine. They bonded immediately and even hugged when Mark left the hospital. What is that instant bond that cruisers have? It is amazing.
Tomorrow Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco arrive from Puerto Rico. I was going to drive to Boston to pick them up, but due to Mark’s condition, I really don’t feel comfortable leaving him. So today I made arrangements for someone to pick them up. They should arrive here in time for dinner with Patsy and Joe. Then on Saturday morning, I will leave Mark with Justin and Heather while I take Patsy and Joe to Boston to get their flight home to Nashville. I can’t believe they have been here almost a week. We’ve barely made a dent in all of the things we wanted to do. Patsy and I did get to go on a short shopping excursion late this afternoon after Mark and I got home from the hospital, but I’m not sure we are going to make it to Martha’s Vineyard. Joe really wanted to take the ferry over, but that is probably not in the stars for this visit.
Tonight we had a Mexican feast thanks to Patsy and Joe. We ordered take-out from a Mexican restaurant that is not very far from here and the food was really good. Thank you, Patsy and Joe, for providing dinner. And our new neighbor in the apartment next door brought over freshly baked banana bread for dessert. I REALLY enjoyed a cook-free evening.
We got an email from Windbird’s new owner this evening reporting on his first sail. Sam is visiting Windbird this week without his wife Dawn, but a friend came to join him on the first sail. It makes us so happy to hear from Sam and to know that Windbird is out there sailing again. And Sam, don’t worry about the unintentional jibes. Windbird has survived more than few of those!
Last note . . . here’s one of Joe’s photos of the view from our deck. We are no longer on a boat, but we are really enjoying the harbor views.
